Vigor of Twelve is a play off of the fact that Jesus had twelve disciples. It is a name that helps stress an importance on discipleship. This blog is specifically geared for younger people and mature Christians who don't mind a fresh, bold, and blunt approach to faith. Comments welcome, let's begin the discussion!

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Sunday, March 6, 2016

Luke 3:7-9

Luke 3:7-9

Therefore he was saying to the crowd who came to be baptized
by him, “Offspring of poisonous snakes!
Who made it known to you to flee from the wrath that is coming? Therefore make fruit in line with repentance
and you all should not begin to say in yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham.’ For I tell you that God is powerful enough
out of these stones to raise up children for Abraham. And already the ax is resting on the root of
the tress. Therefore every tree that
does not make good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire.

Thoughts for Today

First
Thought:

I’ve always been amazed by John. He really doesn’t seem to care about the
approval of the people around him. He
cares about proclaiming the truth regardless of whether the people around him
like him or hate him. After all, look at
the recipients of John’s message. John
doesn’t just say “offspring of poisonous snakes” to the religious leaders, he
says it to the ones who are coming out to be baptized! This is an amazing place to live in
life. John must put his full trust in
God, because he isn’t likely to have many friends among men! He must believe that God is going to take
complete care of him. You don’t proclaim
a message like this to the world around you without incredible faith in God.

Are you ever afraid of offending the people around you? Why do human beings fear offending too many
people?

Second
Thought:

Look at thrust of John’s teaching after getting their
attention by calling them offspring of poisonous vipers. John makes sure that they understand that
they shouldn’t even begin to rest upon their biological connection to
Abraham. John cautions them to not even
begin there! We cannot think that the
righteousness of another human being is going to make us righteous. It doesn’t work that way. Just because I had faithful people in my
family tree does not make me faithful!
No. Salvation comes individually.

Do you ever think you are saved because the people around
you seem to be saved? Do you ever think
you are good because you come from a good family?

Third
Thought:

So what does matter? Our fruit matters. The product of our life matters. What matters is if we repent and live out of
that repentance. What matters is that we
each come to terms with the sinful nature within and then wrestle against
it. At the end of the day, what matters
is whether I pursued my sinful nature or whether I faced my sinful nature and
turned to God for guidance instead.

Are you bearing fruit in line with your
repentance? What does your fruit look
like? How do you repent?